Malaysia is an upper middle-income country in South-East Asia with a population of 33.6 million people in 2021. In 1980, the country established achieved universal health coverage with high government subsidies through public health facilities. In 2019, Malaysia’s current health expenditure (CHE) was 3.8 % of GDP while domestic general government health expenditure accounted for 52.2% of CHE. Although out-of-pocket expenditure was relatively high at 35.9% of CHE in 2019, catastrophic health spending (greater than 10% of total household expenditure) was low at 1.5 %.[1]
Health protection and benefits for the needy population
In 2019, the Ministry of Health of Malaysia initiated Skim Peduli Kesihatan for the B40 group (PeKa B40) programme to enhance health care access and financial risk protection among the group with income in the bottom 40% of household income in Malaysia. The PeKa B40 emphasizes noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and health service benefits that include health screening, health aid (medical equipment), cancer treatment, and transportation costs. The PeKa B40 programme incentivized households in the group to undergo NCD preventive screening [2].
Financial sustainability of the health system
Malaysia is moving from medium- to long-term health care reform. The planned reform is outlined in the Health White Paper presented to the parliament in mid-2023.
